After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week celebrated its third edition, and a Snuneymuxw First Nation fashion company once again walked the runway.
Sisters Aunalee Boyd-Good and Sophia Seward-Good of Ay Lelum – The Good House of Design, showcased their collection on December 1 for ‘Spirit of the West Coast,’ celebrating designs in a “signature spirit of the West Coast.” West”.
“It was amazing, a really beautiful experience to see so many different cultures come together and work together and showcase so many styles of art,” Seward-Good said. “It was really nice to be invited and be a part of it.”
He said the collection shown in Vancouver had many of the same pieces shown earlier this year when the design house debuted its work in New York City for the city’s fashion week in September.
The collection, titled Transformation, showed and exemplified “walking through the life of a modern, multi-generational Coast Salish family from Snuneymuxw.”
For the New York show, Boyd-Good said they preferred fabrics with iridescent or metallic qualities that would change in different lighting or when viewed from a different perspective. Artwork designer Joel Good said each piece of art design that is put on his sisters’ clothing comes from one of his own original traditional Coast Salish paintings.
Seward-Good said some new pieces were also created for the Vancouver show, using the same material, including a new multi-color patterned chiffon cape made of wool.
He also said that while they hired several of the same models they had in the Big Apple earlier this year, they kept in mind that those models weren’t wearing the same outfits as before.
Ay Lelum was also recently featured in Vogue magazine as one of the ’11 Designers to Know for Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week’ at the end of November.
Their children unfortunately did not participate in the walk earlier this month.
“However, I felt that our children were there in secret. We had an 18-year-old model one of the vests my son had worn… Even though my kids weren’t there, it was like we were blessed with kids who felt like family kids,” he said.
In addition to exhibiting, Ay Lelum was a vendor at the five-day event, along with dozens of other powerful indigenous fashion companies.
His work can also be seen at the Beban Park community center for the upcoming Sum̓sháthut (Sun) Festival on December 17 at the trading stall market.
The design company also recently opened its gallery, studio, and design house at Snuneymuxw First Nation at 1380B Raines Rd., which is open Friday and Saturday, or by appointment.